Plans unveiled for £45m housing development in Sedgefield

PLANS have been unveiled for a £45m housing development that will create more than 400 family homes and support 130 jobs.

The Diocese of Durham and house-builder Story Homes are submitting two linked applications for 415 new houses on land near Eden Drive in Sedgefield.

If approved, the scheme would also see the creation of a new link road between Stockton Road and the A689, which the developers say will provide safe access to the town.

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However, not all residents welcome the plans, with one objector describing Sedgefield as “under siege.”

In the emerging County Durham Plan, Durham County Council has identified the 42 acre site as suitable for a housing development of this size.

But Julia Bowles, chair of Sedgefield Resident Forum, said many residents disagreed with the allocation.

“We simply do not have the infrastructure to support all these new homes,” she said.

“We won’t be able to cope. Parking in the village is already a major problem and traffic is a concern too.

“The schools are full and the doctor’s surgery is doing its best but there are only so many patients they can see.”

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Mrs Bowles said she feared the development would encourage applications for similar schemes.

“We have no guarantee 400 houses will be the limit,” she said.

“I feel Sedgefield is under siege and I, like many other residents, believe we should fight to protect the character of the village.”

Yesterday (Thursday, January 30), planning consultants Smiths Gore and Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners (NLP), who are handling the schemes on the applicants’ behalf, held a public exhibition at Ceddesfeld Hall to give residents a chance to view the plans.

NLP Associate Director Neil Westwick said: “The proposals aim to deliver new family housing for Sedgefield with the provision for ten per cent of the development to be affordable homes.

“In terms of the benefits to the local economy the development will create and support 130 construction jobs, provide a multi-million pound boost to the local economy and deliver a New Homes Bonus of £4m to Durham County Council.”

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The proposals will also retain a key view through the site to the Grade I listed St Edmund Church.

A second consultation event will take place at the same venue from 9am to noon tomorrow (Saturday, February 1).

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Comments (5)

Welcome to the world as seen by the besieged residents of Durham City!!!

Welcome to the world as seen by the besieged
residents of Durham City!!!mahrud

Welcome to the world as seen by the besieged residents of Durham City!!!

Score: 0

sineater says...4:27pm Fri 31 Jan 14

???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.

???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.sineater

???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.

Score: -2

Durhamite1979 says...4:35pm Fri 31 Jan 14

sineater wrote…

???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.

Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that?

[quote][p][bold]sineater[/bold] wrote:
???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.[/p][/quote]Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that?Durhamite1979

sineater wrote…

???????????? The country needs 250,0000 new houses per year for the next few years at least,wake up.

Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that?

Score: 3

PJ Chingford says...11:36pm Fri 31 Jan 14

Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that? So you live in one of these nice areas but you would have everyone else live in the inner city on contaminated sites with a cr*p environment, your not NIMBYS, you are little Englanders, I've got my nice little plot and no one else is going to live near me, sickens me, I suppose it will be OK for my kids to live in houses on former industrial sites but not new estates - puke!

Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that?
So you live in one of these nice areas but you would have everyone else live in the inner city on contaminated sites with a cr*p environment, your not NIMBYS, you are little Englanders, I've got my nice little plot and no one else is going to live near me, sickens me, I suppose it will be OK for my kids to live in houses on former industrial sites but not new estates - puke!PJ Chingford

Yes, the country does. And there are 100 000's of thousands of vacant plots or run down properties, in existing urban areas and cities, that are well placed for existing jobs, infrastructure and schools. However, that doesn't provide the developer or the council will a nice little capital pot of money. It does push up house prices, but why would they give a f___ about that? So you live in one of these nice areas but you would have everyone else live in the inner city on contaminated sites with a cr*p environment, your not NIMBYS, you are little Englanders, I've got my nice little plot and no one else is going to live near me, sickens me, I suppose it will be OK for my kids to live in houses on former industrial sites but not new estates - puke!

Score: -4

sineater says...1:37pm Sat 1 Feb 14

nimbys ,nimbys, desperate to preserve the value of their properties,it's the same with wind turbines,it's not the turbines,it's the value of their homes that they care about .

nimbys ,nimbys, desperate to preserve the value of their properties,it's the same with wind turbines,it's not the turbines,it's the value of their homes that they care about .sineater

nimbys ,nimbys, desperate to preserve the value of their properties,it's the same with wind turbines,it's not the turbines,it's the value of their homes that they care about .

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